


As Ones Meet, Over and Over Again

by queenlunatic



Series: Zuko's One [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Badass Katara (Avatar), Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Eventual Romance, F/M, Implied Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Iroh is a huge shipper, Iroh knows more than he lets on, Katara and Zuko are soulmates AU, Katara tries to deny her attraction to Zuko, Mai is a supportive ex-girlfriend here too eventually, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Red String of Fate, Soulmate AU, Toph knows more than she lets on too but she likes to brag about it, Zuko is the Prince of Angst, Zuko is trying his best, and then she fails miserably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2020-05-14 07:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19268878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenlunatic/pseuds/queenlunatic
Summary: Set after, "Meeting Your One," this series follows Zuko and Katara as they meet, over and over again, and how being soulmates affects these interactions. Soulmate AU.Part of the "Zuko's One" universe.





	1. Kyoshi Island

**Author's Note:**

> This installment of the 'Zuko's One' series centers around all the times that Zuko and Katara meet. Each chapter will have a different POV (either Zuko or Katara, as I didn't to limit myself to only writing and developing one character). This is the series that is meant to bridge 'Meeting Your One' and 'Zuko's One' together! Any additional fanfics will either be snippets of chapters from this installment, or set after 'Zuko's One.'
> 
> This would have been out sooner but I've been so busy with work, school, and writing my own poetry book that finding the time to write fanfics was cut short, but I'm back and so excited to be continuing this series. I can't promise regular updates, but know that this universe has not been abandoned (there is still so much to write!)
> 
> Anything familiar belongs to the creators and writers of ATLA, and I take no credit for it; anything not familiar or changed is fully mine and that credit belongs to ... me. lol. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Much love.

* * *

 

She is exhausted. Her joints ache after saving Aang from the Unagi. What had he been thinking! She takes a steady breath. He is still a child, she reminds herself, and he’s been out of the world since before the war. He must still not understand the implication of this war. He wants to have fun, and Katara can’t blame him. She is older now, her childhood lost to the war, but even she wishes she could be as carefree, as naive as the last Airbender.  
  
They hidden behind some large rocks, the wave she summoned and the splash of the Unagi having dropped them there. Aang is breathing very weakly and she’s trying not to panic. She’s done this many times before. She isn’t the most skilled waterbender, rather, she isn’t skilled at all. But she has saved Sokka many times from choking on water in his lungs (the first time it was mere desperation that had saved him, she didn’t remember how she had done it) so she moves quickly before the final hope of the world is gone. She does not panic even as this thought is roaring in her mind. 

“Come on, Aang,” his body is trying to do it on his own, but he is too weak after the struggle with the Unagi. “Breathe.”  
  
Then something that is scarily familiar happens. She feels a tug on her heart, like a string pulling at it. She sees red. Then the image of that angry Firebender flashes in her mind. Her eyes are drawn outside the cavern. She sees his boat approaching Kyoshi long after her own body has been alerted to his presence.  
  
“Zuko!” She turns back to the still weakly breathing Airbender. Her hands roam over the young boys chest again. “Wake up Aang,” she whispers, giving one last pass of her hands over him. That does it, his body relaxes and the water gives way up his lungs.

The Airbender sputters and heaves as the water leaves his body. “Katara, don’t ride the Unagi,” he coughs, “not fun.” And then he closes his eyes, his breathing evens out and he is asleep.

 She gathers his limp body up in her arms as she hears the firebenders approaching. They obviously mean to plunder the island until they find Aang. She will not let them take the Airbender from her. Then she hears that voice. That one voice that has been weaving itself in her thoughts since the day she first saw him.

 It’s raspy and silky all at once and she can’t help but be attuned to it.

 “I want the Avatar alive.”

 She presses the young boy closer to her chest, mutters and pleads for Aang to wake up. They need to move from here, they need to leave. Oh where is Sokka? Her mind whirls all over the place. They need to find Sokka and get out of here. Aang needs to get up. Her body is too weak to carry him. She can’t do all those things at once. She nearly drags the Airbender as she moves further inwards towards the side of the rocks as the Fire Prince on his war rhino passes them. They have gone unnoticed and she is grateful that her silent pleadings to Tui and La have been heard.

 Still, her eyes do not leave the Fire Prince as he passes. The tugging and the ache in her body thrums even as he disappears from her view. 

* * *

  
The Fire Prince has started a commotion outside. She can hear that damned voice of his screaming out for his men to find the Avatar. Then she hears the Kyoshi warriors begin to take him on. Something about the thought of the Fire Prince fighting on his own brings her a sense of dread she can’t explain.

 She’s still with an unconscious Avatar in the cave so she can’t see what’s actually happening. Then she feels the boy stir.

 “Aang?”  
  
He opens his eyes. “Katara, what’s-” he hears the crash of metal against armor and then the roar of the Fire Prince.

 “Zuko.” She tells him. “He’s here.”  
  
“Looking for me.”  
  
She nods. “We need to find Sokka and leave now. We can drive him out and then lose his trail like before.”  
  
He shakes his head and she gets up. “No, I need to go and face him.”  
  
“Aang, you’ve been hurt, we just need to find Sokka and leave. Zuko will abandon this place as soon as he sees us in the air.”  
  
Something tells her that the Fire Prince will not bother with Kyoshi if he sees his target well on its way out. This brings her some semblance of comfort. Kyoshi will be spared if only they can leave now. There’s more clashing and screaming. She hears Suki over the commotion. Then she hears Sokka. She doesn’t notice when Aang rises and makes his way out of the cave. She’s too late to stop him when he practically flies towards the middle of the street where the Fire Prince and Suki are engaged in a fight that seems equally matched. 

Parts of Kyoshi are on fire. She feels sick to her stomach as she takes this fact in. She finds her gaze locked on the moving form of the Fire Bender. Feels anger swell in her heart. Anger and fear. Zuko has not yet noticed Aang.

 “Come out Avatar!” He dodges a blow from Suki. She’s running towards the fight when she notices that he is not firebending as he fights the Kyoshi Warrior. The heat of the flames that is starting to engulf the island make her sweat and she feels suffocated. Another dodge, another blow, he does not use his flames.

 But his men are and they are setting everything aflame. They need to leave now.  
  
Then, he misses a step and Suki knocks him to his feet. There is a pang in her body as he falls. Almost as though she can feel where he has been hit. She’s almost to where they’re at. She spots Sokka, only recognizing him because of his wolf’s tail, fighting alongside the girls.

 “Sokka!” she shouts, her breath ragged from running. She sees the Fire Prince turn his head sharply to her. There is something that flashes in his eyes as hers meet his. Then Aang shouts over the commotion.

 “Hey! Over here!”

 And then she loses the Fire Prince’s attention. Suki has moved out of the way. This isn’t her fight, and clearly, it isn’t Katara’s either.

 “Finally.” She hears the Prince say. He takes a fighting stance. “Give yourself up Avatar, and no further harm will come to this island.”

 She looks around again. She needs to do something. She cannot fight for Aang, no matter how much she wants too, and she is too weak to fight at all. But she needs to do something.

 She moves away from where her Avatar and the Prince are facing each other down and along the streets helping women and children move away from the burning homes and into safer buildings.  
  
The Firebenders seem to concentrate in one area specifically and many of the outer areas are safe from their fire. But fire can spread quickly and right now they are lucky that there seems to be little air to spread any wisps or embers.

 She is helping a small child inside when she feels Aang land next to her.

 He looks relatively unharmed, just shaken. He looks back towards the statue of Kyoshi already splintering from the fire that engulfs it. There is a pain in his eyes that seems to age his face significantly. She almost feels like crying when she sees such joviality quickly turn into solemnity and the young boy’s shoulders sag with burden.  
  
She places a firm hand on his shoulder. “It’s not your fault.” And it isn’t, not really. It’s the fault of that crazy Fire Bender.  
  
Aang looks into her eyes desperately, like a child in need of a long and warm hug. His grey eyes are cloudy, stormy and Katara fears that he’ll go into the Avatar State. Kyoshi might not survive that.

Calmly she takes his hand. “Then let’s find Sokka and get out of here. Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us. I know he will. It might feel wrong to run, but it’s the only way now Aang. Come on, let’s go.”

 She hopes her assumption about the Prince is right.

* * *

 

 Sokka almost falls off Appa’s tail before she grabs onto the back of his shirt and heaves him up. She hears Aang call out a “yip, yip,” and they’re off.

 She gazes over the saddle and down onto the village. The flames are going down, and much of it can still be salvaged. She prays to Tui and La that they will be okay and that they make it through it all.

 She prays to Tui and La that Zuko and his men leave the island before it’s too late. Unthinkingly she seeks out the form of the Fire Prince. And when she spots him, she has to hold on tighter to the saddle as her body involuntarily lurches forward. They lock eyes again and even though they are many miles apart she can feel his gaze burning through her entire being.

 Her lower belly clenches and she feels the tug on her heart. She sees red.

 But as she assumed, she hears him call out to his men to stop their attack. His voice borders on sounding guilty as she sees him take a quick look around the village.

 “Back to the ship! Now! Do not lose sight of them!” as he screams this he turns back and looks at her again. Her body reacts and she leans further out.

 “See Aang,” she says, voice hoarser than usual, “Zuko is leaving. They’ll be alright.”

 Sokka huffs and crosses his arms. There is still some paint smudged on his face.

 She looks at Aang again, the boy has a strange expression on his face. “I know it feels wrong but it’s the right-”

 Aang's sudden dive from over Appa stops her. She screams out to him, but he hits the water before she can finish any coherent sentence.

 Bile rises in her throat. She follows where Aang’s body has made a splash back down to an equally shocked Fire Prince watching. He holds a hand out to keep his men at the shore. It’s almost as if she can hear his thoughts as she hears his voice inside her head ‘what is the Avatar doing?’ The chills that course down her spine only get worse when she sees exactly what Aang has planned. Only this time, she can’t be there to save him from the Unagi if it all goes wrong.

* * *

The village is left free of any growing fire by the time Aang climbs back into the saddle. She feels the relief that Sokka expresses from letting go a long, almost exasperated breath.

 Aang puts his hands up, gaze shifting downwards as he begins, “I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous.”

 “And reckless,” Sokka adds. The look in her brother's eyes bearing too close of a similarity her fathers. 

 “Yes it was,” she agrees with both of them, fighting to keep her voice from breaking. They could have lost Aang today, three times over. She can just feel Sokka thinking the same thing. 

 She takes them both into her arms, and feels as they all relax. The fight leaving their bones as Appa flies on against the waning sun leaving behind a smouldering village and a shouting Fire Prince. 

* * *

 Later that night, when they’ve stopped a lone piece of island far from Kyoshi, hidden enough to not have any enemy find them, Katara finds herself thinking about Zuko as they left him on Kyoshi.

 She thinks about how he looked at them as they finally flew on and away for good. Pained. He looked in pain there dripping wet, with a snarl on his lips before he began his shouting. 

 She tries not to ponder on why remembering his pained expression makes her feel like crying for a boy she’s supposed to hate. For a boy whose voice she just can’t get out of her head.

She might pray to La before finally drifting off to sleep to help her understand why she feels conflicted over her enemy. But La doesn't seem to answer her, at least not then.

 


	2. Necklace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara loses her necklace; Zuko finds it. But with a Soulmate twist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The writers literally had Zuko find her necklace and they expected us not to ship it? Ridiculous! Short chapter, and they don't actually *meet* but I had to write it. Also this is a double POV chapter, it had to be done (even if it contradicts what I had previously said, oops!)

The exhilaration she feels is incomparable. She led a whole riot. A whole fucking successful riot against a Fire Nation prison. Those bastards deserved all the destruction they left behind and more. 

She laughs heartily when she realizes the deep shit the prison guards must be in now with the Fire Lord. Especially that awful Warden. She can still smell his rank breath from everytime he would shout in her face in a form of intimidation Katara would never show weakness too. She is not as weak as they think she is. 

What is most important to her in the moment is that Haru and his father are safe and free. And their fighting spirit is back. Two more allies they can depend on. Even Sokka sees the benefit in her crazy plan. Which, he naturally tried to talk her out of.

But Katara could never abandon anyone in need. She isn’t that kind of person. She might not be mighty, and she might not be trained, but she is nothing but as ruthless and unyielding as the oceans that are in her veins. Tui and La smiled upon her today, and she thanks them.    
  
She helped those former prisoners find their courage. Their will to fight. They will need a lot more of that if they are to stop this war. 

The war.

The image of a blank face shrouded in flames fills her head. One day the Fire Lord will lie dead and there will be peace. Then, she sees the Fire Prince in her thoughts. But the thought of him dead fills her with something like guilt. The mere thought does not settle the way she thinks it should. The thought of him dead makes her feel dirty and a little like crying.

Her body shivers almost as if she’s trying to rid it of the thought of Prince Zuko dead. But wouldn’t that be best? He is trying to capture Aang. The last hope of the world. A child innocent of the travesty of war. A child she has sworn to protect until her last breath.

So Prince Zuko must die. Her body shivers again.

Or at the very least, imprisoned for life.

The sound of Haru’s voice cuts her thoughts off. 

  
“Come with us.”   
  
He’s sweet, Katara thinks. But she can’t. She’s done her part here. Her duty lies with the Airbending monk who’s currently doing some tricks with a piece of coal. Her heart fills with warmth. He is still a child, and she is his protector. 

Haru smiles. “That’s him isn’t it? The Avatar.”   
  
Katara nods and feels pride swell in her chest. That is the world’s last hope and he’s helped these people gain some of that hope back today.    
  
“Katara.” Her attention is back to the young Earthbender. Sweet faced and shy Earthbender who she thinks she could be great friends with if only they had more time. “Thank you for bringing my father back to me.” She tries not to think of her own father as a lump rises in her throat. “I never thought I’d see him again. I only wish there was some way …” 

  
He trails off. There is no time. And Haru can never return the favor. She doesn’t even know where her own father is. 

She moves her hand to her throat to try and coax the knot that forms there. That’s when she realizes it. She almost topples over in shock. 

  
Her voice comes out frantic. “My Mother’s necklace! It’s gone!” 

She feels her heart breaking. The last thing of her mother’s. The last piece of her mother, gone forever. 

  
****   


It isn’t until hours later that she feels the grief from losing her mother’s necklace ease somehow. As if she knows she’ll see it again. As if someone has taken it into their care.    
  
The feeling passes and she lets more tears fall until she can only focus on the fiery red sunset before her. Until she can only see red and feel the caress of warm wind over her body like an unknown lover’s embrace.    
  


* * *

 

  
Zuko feels his blood boil when he hears the Warden tell him how he yelled at his One. How cruelly he treated his One. Tries hard not to set anything aflame. 

But he cannot blame the Warden. He was doing his job against an unruly prisoner, no matter what she was to him. He didn’t know, and that calms his ire.

As the Warden waxes on about how she dared to defy him since the beginning with an impassioned speech, something in Zuko goes alight.

So she likes to make passionate speeches? A good quality for her to have, especially since he hates speaking in public. If they marry he will have her ...

Have her do what? He shakes his head. They can’t marry. This is a mistake. And this fantasy is just that, a fantasy. Surely Agni must be playing some terrible joke on him. Agni is a god as mischeviouis as he is powerful. Maybe his nation has done so much damage that her goddess La is punishing him as well.

The Warden notices his head shake. “Have I said something that displeases my most Esteemed Prince?”

Zuko ignores the slight jeer. “This prisoner. What did she look like?”

The Warden’s lip curls up. “Weak. Skinny. I’ve seen more meat on a emanicated chicken.”

Anger again flares, but Zuko conceeds him this point. She did appear healthier in Kyoshi and for that Zuko feels immensely grateful.

“I told her she was one mistake from dying but just a couple of days without food would have done her in.” He dares to laugh. Zuko struggles to keep his control. 

“You would threaten a woman with death Warden?” His lips form a thin line.

“Well-” and he moves his hands to puncuate his point- “she caused this.”

And it looks like she really did a number on the place. If he were anyone else he would laugh. So much power in such a tiny body and soft voice. So soft. 

He focuses back on the Warden. Still, he sees the point of the older man. This would only incite further sparks of resistance if word that a group of prisoners overpowered an entire trained Guard. He might feel a twinge of pride for what his One, obviously a born leader, has been able to accomplish. Thinks that if she were on his side that they could rule nations together, she’d be unstoppable.

But she’s not on his side. So this incident must be squashed before it can reach anymore villages. Or worse, his Father. He doesn’t want to think what would happen to the men who failed to keep the prisoners in line if his father hears of this.

“Try to recapture as many men as you can. This incident does not leave this place. I will be merciful and not report it to my father, on that you have my word. But should this reach him by any other means, I cannot help you."

“Yes my Prince.”

In addition to that, he really doesn’t like the idea of his father finding out about the woman behind the incident. He does not want a further bounty on her head. It’s already enough that she’s travelling with the Avatar.  
  
"No one must know about the woman either, any knowledge of her stays with you and the men that were here today."   
  
"I think we would all like to forget that Earthbending woman." The displeasure in his voice is thick.   
  
So they thought the watergirl was an Earthbender? How had they failed to notice that the "Earthbending" woman had the coloring of a Tribeswoman with eyes the color of the waters of Ember Island. He vaguely wonders how she managed to trick them into thinking she was an Earthbender in the first place. His One is smart and capable, he concedes, or these men are just dumber than the appear.   
  
"Then that is that. I will not tell my father and no one finds out about the ..." he pauses, tries not to smile in amusement, "Earthbending woman."  
  
The Warden narrows his eyes but doesn't say anything more than, "Yes my Prince."  
  
***

He leaves the Warden to scope out the extent of the damage. He’s still impressed and just a little proud. But this also spells trouble. Not like he isn’t already in a world of trouble for having a Daughter of La be his One. 

Then he feels something hard beneath his boot that isn’t a piece of coal. The shade of blue is unmistakable. This is hers. He’s seen it on her neck. That lovely column that he finds himself thinking about until he feels uncomfortable.

She’s lost it. Probaby slipped off during the fighting. He bends over to pick it up. The stone is smooth and the engraving is intricate and beautiful like the features of her face. The band is silk and it feels cool against his hot palm. He wonders if her skin feels this way.

He stares out to the ocean. The waves are choppy. There is no doubt her ocean god feels proud of one of his students and what she accomplished today. He wraps the necklace around his wrist.

And if in the days to come he touches the stone to seek comfort every time he feels any emotion that is too overwhelming, that is no one’s business but his own. His Uncle says nothing, even though Zuko suspects the old man has seen him do this. But Uncle would understand better than anyone the feelings that a One brings.

It is a small piece of his red strings chosen. A small piece of her is better than no piece.

This is also the key to finding her and the Avatar. Zuko will not allow himself to lose it. It is precious. It is hers. And in a perfect world without a war she would be his. 


	3. Winter Solstice, Pt. I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gaang heads to the Fire Nation. Zuko follows them. What more is there to say? No Katara and Zuko are not hatefully pining after each other. That's just in your heads dear readers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another double POV chapter. I can't keep what I say straight huh? Well, I guess this is how I'm going to be doing it from now on! 
> 
> & wow, it's been a HOT minute y'all! I blame this semester of college. Wowza. It nearly did me in! That and the fact that I'm also focusing my time into writing about 3-4 books simultaneously left little creative juices for this story. Not that I ever forgot about it; it was just hard to find a voice for it again. To be fair, I did go back and re-read some pieces of this series just to find that voice again. So if this chapter seems a bit different from the previous installments, I do heartily apologize. I also do not know whether this is a long chapter or a short one, but there is a part two as I only wrote about half-way through one episode. 
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading, and if you were patiently waiting for an update but also giving up hope that I would update, I'm glad to tell you that this story is not abandoned at all. But, it might just take a long time to finish. 
> 
> Much love!

* * *

"I need to talk to Roku and I think I've found a way to contact his spirit."  
  
The solemnity in Aang's face does not escape her. But this should be good news right? It might be a slight detour away from the Northern Tribe-which makes her anxious, she thinks she wants to get there and train even more than the Avatar himself-but if Aang needs to do this in order to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, then so be it. She can wait. She's waited twenty-two years to finally learn how to bend, and although she's not a patient person, she doesn't think a probable week's detour will kill her.   
  
"That's great!" she exclaims trying to brighten Aang up. Aang looks at her and gives her a slight quirk of a smile, but it's gone too soon.   
  
The line of his shoulders is still rigid and he's can't seem to focus his eyesight on anything in particular. She places a hand on his shoulder and feels the slight tremors coursing through him. It can't be that bad can it?  
  
"Creepy, but great," interjects Sokka. Aang tenses a little further. She shoots Sokka an exasperated look. Sokka shrugs back. 'This Avatar stuff is creepy,' she can hear him thinking. She resists the urge to pinch the skin under his arm like when they were kids.   
  
Now even she feels the static in the air the worry that radiates off Aang in tiny ripples. But even the smallest ripple can disturb the greatest of oceans, as her GranGran would say. Something is wrong.   
  
Aang takes a deep breath and the shoulder under her hand seems to ease. He looks at her then, like a guilty child hoping his mother won't give him too harsh of a scolding. "There's a temple on a crescent shaped island," he looks at Sokka then back at her, "and if I go there on the solstice I'll be able to speak to him."   
  
The solstice is tomorrow she thinks before she says it. Aang looks down. She squeezes his shoulder once more. Is this what he's so concerned about? Surely they'll make it.   
  
She looks at Sokka. His brow is furrowed and Katara can see that he's trying to work out a timetable in his mind. Trying to think of the best way to make it there before time runs out.  
  
Another deep breath from Aang, and he moves back from her and her hand. "Yeah," he pauses for a long time, eyes skirting between her and Sokka.   
  
"What is it Aang?" she asks. She hopes her tone is more motherly than exasperated. She sometimes forgets he's a child. A child that hasn't been awake in over a hundred years. A child that woke up to a world that was no longer his. She tries to put herself in his place and thinks back to when she was Aang's age; even the smallest hill of an obstacle can seem like a mountain. She and Sokka haven't been kids in a long time, maybe they never were kids in this time of war. But Aang, well Aang is still a kid.   
  
".... and there's one more problem," a sharp inhale before the words tumble out, "The island is in the Fire Nation."   
  
She knows her eyes bulge out and her mouth drops. Her world begins to spin and she feels dizzy. She feels Sokka's calloused hand on her arm; his face mirrors hers.   
  
Sokka's voice is softer than she expected, "Is there no other way?"  
  
Aang shakes his head.   
  
She sees red. She sees fire. She see's the face of the enemy. A scarred Prince chasing after them. She hears her father screaming for her mother. She sees her mother and her last sad smile before ....  
  
She feels the skin on her arms, scarred from years of nighttime panics where her nails would scrape away until there was just blood, tighten and burn. A sob threatens to escape her lips as her hands go up to her now bare neck. She tries to not dig her nails in.   
  
The threat of a sob becomes a promise as it spills out of her raggedly. Sokka has engulfed her in his arms; he's running his hand through her curls whispering that everything is fine, everything is okay, nothing is going to happen. She cries harder.   
  
Aang begins to apologize in a panic. She wishes she were in a better state to comfort him as his words come out in a frenzy. He's just a child; this isn't his fault.   
  
He's a child who has the burden of the world on his shoulders.   
  
Sokka's hand has moved to rub circles in her back and her cries become quieter a few minutes later. Aang is still apologizing, the sweet soul.   
  
It is Sokka that decides that they will only follow Aang as far as they are not in Fire Nation territory. He asks the Avatar if he can understand. She sees Aang nod his head, but also sees the dejection in his eyes.   
  
"It wouldn't be safe for all of us together," Aang reasons. "We can split up in the nearest village to the island. There you'll be safe."  
  
Her voice is muffled and hoarse against Sokka's arm, "We won't leave you, Aang. We'll go."  
  
Sokka looks down at her, his eyes also holding a pain that is nearly ancient, too deep and wounded. But he too nods his head. "You won't be alone."  
  
Aang smiles, light returning to his features. This nearly undoes her once more. She tries not to think of the young boy in the enemy nation all on his own. She tries not to think of him gone, ripped from her and Sokka like other parts of their family because of this La forsaken war.   
  
She tries not to think of him in the clutches of the scarred Fire Prince.   
  
She tries not to think of the Fire Prince at all even when her body seems to thrum at the thought of him.   
  


* * *

  
  
She's tired. She cannot escape the fact that her body aches and that her bones tremble at the chill in the atmosphere. She huddles in closer to herself. She is apart from her brother and Aang, not wanting to keep them up with her restlessness. The last couple of days have exhuasted her and the destination of their current path is not the most peace inducing.   
  
Taking a deep breath she looks up at the winking crescent moon and inhales slowly. She holds her breath and closes her eyes. She needs to stay calm and collected. La, help me, she pleads as she releases her breath after several groggy seconds.   
  
She wills herself to think of anything. Anything else that does not have to do with the Fire Nation. She gingerly traces the faint marks of the scars on her arms. Long healed they nonetheless throb at the memories of how she got them. Nightmares, hunting with her brother and father, more nightmares. So many nightmares.   
  
She's afraid, she knows this. She's afraid to fall asleep tonight lest she have another nightmare. Another panic. More scars. Katara groans, her eyes are pinching and inflamed from the lack of rest. Her body itself is weary. She will need her strength if she is set foot on an isle of the Children of the Sun, the Dragon's Progeny.   
  
She grinds her teeth. The land of the enemy. Golden eyes rise to her memory and she ignores the clenching of her belly, that empty thrum, the need to hold on to something. If there is a story she barely remembers that sits on the edges of her memories, the voice of her grandmother telling her something important. But sleep takes her before she can even think upon the subject further. Before she can even dare to remember.   
  
She dreams. But there is no nightmare. Just the feeling of being held by arms that heat at her skin like dying embers, and the faint smell of spices and smoke.   
  


* * *

  
  
The pendant is cool against his chest. He holds it gingerly close to his heart. He needs all the soothing he can afford at this moment. He has learned where the Avatar is going next and he intends to follow.   
  
But there is the problem of the destination. The Fire Nation. Waters and lands he is exiled from. He ties the ribbon of the necklace around his wrist once more as he takes the telescope and peers into it. Iroh is behind him, berating his choice of advancing towards the Fire Nation Island. It is foolish, he knows that. But this could be his only chance.   
  
To capture the Avatar.   
  
He pauses. Grinds his teeth until his jaw tenses painfully. To see his One, he adds.   
  
"I have no choice, Uncle," he says, voice cool and maudlin. He grips the telescope tighter, widens his good eye further to get a better view of the clear sky in hopes he will spot the familiar white of the Avatar's bison.   
  
Iroh continues behind him, "Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you?" his voice is rigid, softly after he adds, "what if you're caught?"  
  
When Zuko turns around his is not surprised to see his Uncle's face contorted into a permanent worrying scowl. He does not often mean to send his Uncle into bouts of worry, but his tenacity in his mission will not allow for any slips. For any cracks of insecurity to seep through. He needs to capture the Avatar, his father will understand the transgression. He reminds his Uncle of that.   
  
In his own way, he tries to believe it. Iroh once more gently tears away at that.   
  
Ozai is not the understanding type. The scar on his face is a constant reminder of that fact. It throbs in long remembered pain. The pendant hangs limply by his wrist, the cold stone occasionally touching his skin reminding him of one reason, even if new, that he will continue to be tenacious.   
  


* * *

  
  
She spots his ship first and every single nerve in her body jolts awake. She alerts Aang, begs him to steer faster. Curses the Fire Prince as he continues to send those sulfuric fire balls in their direction.   
  
They are not meant to harm beyond possibly making their noses melt from their skin from their rancid smell. They are meant to get them to land someplace and quick so he can reach them.   
  
That is something she does not understand about this enemy. He intends to capture but without undue harm. It unnerves to think that he might have some compassion within that thick dragon hide he disguises as skin. It revolts her to think he might be human if when she extends her gaze beyond the saddle in hopes to catch a glimpse of his armor glinting in the bright sunlight.   
  
The blockade takes them by surprise, but they do not turn around. They cannot. She has not made it this far to let Aang turn back. They press on through the fire balls launched at them and with some La given luck they make it. They make it and she does not know if to be immensely satisfied that they've reached their destination or to huddle into herself and cry like the child she still is on the inside.   
  
At the very least they are alive, and both Aang and Sokka seem to be in good spirits. She will press on as well. For Aang, for the world that depends on him.

 

* * *

  
  
His tenacity and determination. How he curses them as much as he thinks they are some his better qualities.   
  
Perhaps in later times he will recount how this blindness, this one track way of thinking was his most unfortunate undoing in his quest for the Avatar. But today is not that day. Today he will press on despite the blockade in his path. Despite that pesky Admiral that fights him at every turn.   
  
The Avatar escapes and crosses into his Nation. That is not surprising to him. In mirthless amusement he grins and submits to the ill-luck that follows him for today just as he makes the pesky Admiral follow a trail of smoke that will get him no nearer to the Avatar. And, belatedly the thought springs up, no nearer to his One. At that, his heart clenches and his blood teeters on a simmer. The thought of the girl that has consumed his every thought be in the clutches of Zhao causes a rooted revulsion in his heart. He bares the thought with a flinch of a flame upon his fingers and quickly resolves to lock it into the back of his mind lest he give away his position by throwing one angry fireball into the sky in despondent ire and longing.   
  
Today is going to be an arduous day, he ponders, as the ocean mist salts his skin and stings where his lips are beginning to crack and he takes his leave of his Uncle.If there is one thing that has bode him well for years, it has been his Uncle. With a final silent prayer to Agni he turns his head and ventures to follow the Avatar himself, away from the prying eyes of Zhao.   
  
He knows it is not luck that pulls him to the correct direction of the Avatar's whereabouts. That too makes him flinch because he knows just what has guided him, or better yet, what has pulled at his heart.   
  
The pendant rests in his palm, awakens his senses as he ascends into the Fire Temple. It will end here, he can feel it. The Avatar will be in his grasp and soon he will be home. Perhaps then, in the comforts that have long awaited him, he can leave behind this business of that Water Tribe girl just as he will leave his exile.   
  
The Daughter of La must remain as such. Agni's son can never embrace her. The bile he tastes at the thought of almost unnatural reject of her is something he never forgets.   
  
But this is not a perfect world, and she can't be his. Flimsy fantasies and long nights kicking away his sheets in fits of restless tantrums can never change that. 

* * *

 


End file.
